Design appetizers: The first course

As design consultants, we meet a lot of clients. To understand their business and spend time on their most important problems, we usually start with a design therapy session.

Once we understand their problems and opportunities, we must avoid the temptation to offer just one design suggestion. It would be like serving the main course of a dinner far too soon. Instead, we serve a plate of design appetizers to better get to know our client’s taste.

Design appetizers are quick mockups of potential solutions to highlight that a problem can be solved in many ways.

Design appetizers can have memorable names like Pixel Nostalgia or Neon Nihilism. We often describe them similar to the way food is presented at fancy restaurants: “AirBnb with a hint of Pac Man”.

Appetizers are effective because they are cheap, look sketchy and let our clients give honest feedback. It’s a way to invite clients into your kitchen where all the magic happens.

By mastering appetizers, you will be better prepared when creating the main course for your client. Bon appetit!

By Dan, Chris and Frederikke @ www.nobiz.se. If you would like more one-minute UX reads, please leave a comment, clap or follow us here on Medium!